1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solar cell module, an enclosure with solar cells, a method for installing the enclosure with a solar cell, and a sunlight power generating system.
2. Related Background Art
Due to the recently increasing ecological consciousness, more and more attempts are made to develop and use solar cells that provide clean energy.
In particular, more and more solar cells are installed on the clay tile roofs of houses and the ceilings or walls of buildings.
Furthermore, in addition to such solar cells being installed on the roofs of buildings, a large number of solar cell modules integrated with construction materials such as "a solar cell module integrated with a roof" or "a solar cell module integrated with a wall" have been developed and constructed.
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-211932, roof materials integrated with ribbed seam-like solar cell modules are installed via spacer members on an underlaying material laid on a substrate material such as wood, mortar, or cement. Adjacent ribbed seam-like solar cell modules are electrically connected the space between the solar cell modules and the underlaying material using cords with connectors.
In addition, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-302924, a plurality of laterally laying roof plates with solar cells are installed on an underlaying material, and wiring materials used to electrically connect adjacent roof plates with solar cells are passed through the space portion between the underlaying material and the laterally laying roof plates with solar cells.
In these roof plates with solar cells, the wiring materials, that is, connectors or connection cables, for electrically connecting adjacent solar cells are connected in the space between the underlaying material and the roof plates with solar cells.
As described above, when solar cell modules are installed on an underlaying material and/or a substrate material and adjacent solar cell modules are connected using electric connecting members such as cables or connectors, the solar cell modules are often sequentially installed above the underlaying material and/or substrate material while the electric connecting members for the adjacent solar cell modules are connected in the space between the underlaying material and/or substrate material and the solar cell modules.
Specifically, for example, the solar cell module on the eaves side is fixed to a bar on the underlaying material and/or substrate material, and the solar cell module on the eaves side and an electric connecting member of the solar cell module on the ridge side that is located immediately above the solar cell module on the eaves side are electrically connected in the space between the underlaying material and/or substrate material using, for example, a connector. Then, the solar cell module on the ridge side that is located immediately above the module on the eaves side is also fixed to the bar.
In such an installation method, however, the space portion between the underlaying material and/or substrate material and the solar cell modules is small, and electric connection operations must be performed on the rear side of the modules instead of their front side, thereby making operations difficult. Furthermore, when the temperature is low during winter, the cables and connectors are hardened, and the difficulty of the operations increases.
In addition, due to the need to connect the electric connecting members in the small space, the electric connecting member may be pulled too hard or excessive force may be exerted on the electric connecting member and the connection between the solar cell module and the electric connecting member. The electric connecting member may sometimes be disconnected from the solar cell module.
The length of the electric connecting members for the solar cell module may be increased to facilitate the use of the electric connecting members to connect the solar cell modules. In addition, when the lengths of plus and minus electric connecting members are equal, cable connectors can be produced by attaching plus and a minus connectors to the same electric connecting members, respectively, resulting in very high productivity.
On the other hand, to improve thermal insulation to cope with increasing needs for roofs, there is practically used a roof material integrated with a rear material, or a roof material comprising the rear material located between the roof material and the underlaying material and/or substrate material. The inventors have also been attempting to meet such needs for roofs with solar cells. The inventors have thus found that a problem may occur when the rear material is located on the underlaying material and/or substrate material, when the underlaying material and/or substrate material is composed of the rear material, when solar cell modules with the rear material are installed above the underlaying material and/or substrate material, or when the electric connecting members for the solar cells physically contact the rear material.
Furthermore, the inventors have found that the performance of the installed solar cell modules may be degraded when asphalt-based resin, polystyrene-based resin, polyurethane-based resin, or vinyl-based chloride resin that is often used as the underlaying material and/or substrate material and/or rear material contacts, over a long time, vinyl chloride-based resin that is used as a casing material for the electric connecting members used as wiring members for the solar cell modules and when these resins are under a resin degradation condition such as high temperature and high humidity.